Product Description

The final volume sees gunslinger Roland on a roller-coaster mix of exhilarating triumph and aching loss in his unrelenting quest to reach the dark tower. A journey which means he must leave his faithful frineds Eddie, Susannah, Jake, even Oy, as he closes on the Tower. His steps are followed only by Mordred, half-human, half-terrifying creature heir to the Crimson King. In the end, it is an unlikely ally who will hold to key to the Tower itself, centre of all time and all place.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #134481 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 704 pages

Customer Reviews

The end of an era
I have to admit, i was worried to read this book, i was dreading how King would deal with the last march toward the Tower, and what i would find at the end. When you invest many years in a series of books, and finally it all comes to an end, you pray it was all worth it, that reading and loving the first 6 books would not all be in vain, and BOY was it worth it!!
King has outdone himself in this the last Dark Tower book, You really got to see the heart of Roland, to see his true character, and the realization of how much he truly loves his friends...Jake, Eddie and Suzzanah, even Oy. We see much more of Rolands feelings, and how all his companions will gladly sacrifice themselves to allow Roland to reach his dream.
Yet again we meet characters from other King books, and it all ties in, its as if no matter what book SK is writing, the Dark Tower was always there at the back of his mind, and always trying to find its way through.
This is the end of truly the best series of books i have ever read, the ending was something i could never in my wildest dreams have imagined, yet after reading it again, and again, the only ending there could be that would make sense. I cant imagine anything coming close to this series of books, and if SK decides never to publish again, he can be content with knowing he has written the best there ever is

Classic... by far the best of the series
I've been following the Dark Tower series for several years now, and I've loved them all. But in Wolves of the Calla and Song of Susannah, I thought the story was overcomplificating slightly, getting a little loose. Not enough to make the books bad (and they weren't, I love everything with a certain Sai Deschain in it) but it was there. Like many, I was afraid Stephen King had finally started to do what he always said he was afraid he'd do.... let the sheer size of the story spin out of control.

But in The Dark Tower, he stops that and fast. Unlike the last two entries, this book harks back to an older style of Dark Tower book: action, lots of action, and good action to boot. The way the story flows most strongly resembles The Waste Lands, my favourite book of the series up to this. One thing King uses very well is the plot device of having himself in the story, he really plays around with it, and it works. This book has everything: great joy, terrible sorrow, suspense, horror, love, and most important of all: everybody's favourite characters return. Roland and his ka-tet are all present, of course, but Walter's back, too. And a certain author is still knocking around... New characters appear as well, such as Roland's half-human son, Mordred (brilliantly written, and nasty as hell.), and his OTHER father, The Crimson King, is finally more than just a menacing prescence. I won't mention any other new characters, but those of you who know your Dark Tower connections in SK's other work will see a few friendly faces.

Kicking in where the cliffhander ending of volume six left off, we find Jake and Pere Callahan (accompanied by Oy) entering the Dixie Pig in search of Susannah. It's a tense situation, and we love it. Kudos to King for the echoes of 'Salem's Lot. Susannah is handling her own escape plans, and trying to avoid her newborn son (who has a nasty habit of turning into a spider). On top of this, Walter's in the shadows, and his motives are far more ulterior than we suspected, this guy's only in it for himself. Meanwhile, in Keystone America (as the real world is called), Roland and Eddie have to get back to the future, but it's never as easy as it sounds....

It's only after the Tet re-unite and return to Mid-world that things really get going. Their first port of call is Thunderclap and the Devar-toi (which is where the Breakers hang out), and then it's on to the tower, and whatever the tower contains, but the road is dangerous, and there are many ways to die and worlds to do it in...

Overall, I found the book extremely hard to put down from beginning to end, and it may well be one of the best books King has ever written. I know some of you want to know if there's a happy ending, but as Sai King says, ultimately, there's no such thing. The end may not be everything you hoped for, but the journey was definitely worth it. I'm just sorry it's over.

*****/*****

And so it ends ....
Like most other people it feels like a lifetime (and it probably is!) since I was first introduced to, then fell in love with, Roland of Gilead. Like others, I have experienced the highs and lows of following his story and those of his ka-tet - both in terms of the story and sometimes to quality of writing (being a die-hard King fan it pains me to say that).

The Dark Tower VII sends you on an emotional roller coaster that takes you back to the good old days when King really knew how to tell a story. There were times when I had to put the book down and walk away just to recover from what I'd just learned. There were times when King weaves so much of himself into the threads (figuratively AND literally) that you sometimes can't tell where reality ends and fiction begins. This is the only book I've read in a long time that just doesn't play it safe. There's so much joy, pain, sadness, heartache - this is not for the faint-hearted. If you have built up any emotional connection over the years to any of the main characters, trust me - there will be times when you just won't know where to put yourself.

I finished this book a couple of months ago and so have had time to reflect on the ending. Make no mistake, this IS the end. My initial reaction was of the "you gotta be kidding" variety, but the more I think about it (and you WILL be thinking about it for a long time to come, this book just wont leave you alone even after you've closed its covers for the last time), the more I believe it is the only way. Simple, quiet, final. And so so right as a conclusion to an epic. Now I just think: "wow..."